


We Are None of Us Gods

by Morgyn Leri (morgynleri)



Series: Scarred Souls [1]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Alternate Universe, GFY, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-29
Updated: 2013-08-29
Packaged: 2017-12-25 01:02:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/946795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morgynleri/pseuds/Morgyn%20Leri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Paul Davis wakes up on an unfamiliar planet, with a gaping blank in his mind where his memories should be. He's told it's the result of being freed from the demon that was using him as a host, and that most of his memories should return, in time. It feels strange, though, not to remember more than part of his name.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Are None of Us Gods

The sky above him was dark as he blinked, slowly waking up from what felt like a very deep sleep. Dark, and scattered with hundreds of stars that looked strange, though he couldn't quite figure out why. He couldn't actually remember looking at a night sky before.

A rustle of movement made him turn his head, looking for the source of the sound, a small yelp escaping him when pain flared through abused muscles. Whatever was moving came closer, and he could just make out where someone or something stood by the blocking of stars.

"Do not move too quickly, or you will make the pain worse. It will pass, I promise." The voice was female, and close by. Someone crouched beside him, soft fabric brushing against his side a moment before a hand came to rest on his bare chest. A movement that finally brought awareness that he wore nothing, that he was left uncovered.

"Where am I?" He had other questions he wanted to ask, but something kept him from asking them, a sense that it would sound crazy not to even know who he was.

"We are in the place of casting-out." The hand didn't move, resting just above his heart, warm against slightly chilled skin. "You are safe now, free of the demon that would devour your soul."

"Demon?" Confusion colored his voice, and he widened his eyes, trying to see her face, even though there wasn't enough light to do so. "What do you mean?"

"They are worms of great evil who invade the bodies of humans they have sent their soulless guardians to steal, and they slowly consume their souls. They possess great powers when they are glutted on a soul, but they do not last, and they must seek another."

"How did you kill it, then?"

She took her hand away from his chest, and the fabric against his side shifted as she stood, stepping away from him. "That is a secret I cannot share with those who are not sworn to the guarding of the demons' ring. Sleep now, the pain will be less when you wake again."

* * *

The next time he awoke, there was a blanket tucked around him, and the sky above him was an indigo that faded towards the horizon as he turned his head. Mountains were a darker bulk tipped in scarlet light from the sun starting its climb over the horizon, the sight both familiar and strange at the same time.

The scrape of leather on stone made him twist around, pushing himself off the ground at the same time with a palm flattened against the grit that he had been laid out on. A woman crouched nearby, watching him, a sleek black weapon in her hand that looked almost like a snake waiting to strike.

"You are not in any pain?" Her voice was low, the same steady tone from the night before that had answered some of his questions, and not others.

He didn't answer right away, frowning slightly as he assessed his body. "A little sore. I think from sleeping on the ground." He wasn't certain, but the answer felt right. Like the knowledge was there, but he couldn't consciously reach it.

"That is good." She shifted, rising to her feet as she returned the strange weapon - and how he knew it was a weapon was another puzzle - to her belt as a cloak shifted to fall around her. "Do you know your name?"

"I..." He paused, his brow furrowing as he thought about it, a single word dredged up from a mind that didn't want to let go of its secrets, fogged and uncertain. "Paul." There should have been more, but he couldn't find more, his head starting to ache.

"Do not try to force it to come. Wounds to the soul take longer to heal than wounds to the body. And some are too deep to heal completely, but leave scars instead." The woman stepped closer, offering a hand to help him up from the ground. "I am Aisla. Welcome to Talah, Paul."

He took the offered hand, holding onto the blanket as he stood up, carefully wrapping it around himself. "You said last night that I was... possessed?"

Aisla nodded, stepping away from him, crouching down a moment to pick up a bundle that she held out to him. "By one of the great demons of the void between worlds."

The bundle had a simple pair of pants, a tunic, and a cloak much like the one that she wore. He dressed quickly before asking, "You said they devour souls. What happens if they've consumed someone's soul before you do what it is that kills the demon?"

The concept that whatever it had been was a demon didn't quite sit right, but he couldn't think of what it would be otherwise, so he used the terms she had. It would come back to him, he hoped. If the gaping holes in his memories did heal over time as she had tried to reassure him.

"The body dies." Aisla shrugged, watching him a moment. "It is enough that we try. To always succeed would be too great a gift. We are none of us gods, after all."

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted 31 October 2008.


End file.
